Shovel for sifting.



C. M. RAYMOND.

S L FOR SIFTING.

APPLICA o FILED N0V.l0,1913- 1 337,2 1 8. Patented Au 14, 1917.

UNITE srn PATENT OFFIGE.

CADWALLADER M. RAYMOND, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS,

SHOVEL FOR SIFTING,

Application filed. November 10,1913.

rial from fine pulverulent material, asbits of coal or Cinders. from ashes, for removing solid objects from liquid and-in general for effecting separation between substances which will pass through a sieve and other substances which will not. My invention broadly stated consists in a-structure which enables a shovel to combine the ordinary functions of ashovel with the functions of a sieve. The manner in which I prefer to construct the shovel in order to secure the desired object is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the following specification.

Inthe drawings,

Figure 1 isa front elevation of a shovel made in accordance with my invention and embodying the preferred form thereof.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation-of the shovel.

Fig. 3 is a cross section takenon line-3-3 of Fig.1. I

Fig. 4 is across section t'akenon linel4l of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an elevation or edge view of the end of the shovel.

Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. l. v

Fig. 7 is a detailedsectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 1.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

The shovel handleis indicated at a. and is made as a bar of suitable length with a hand grip b of'any desired formandcharacter. As here shown the hand grip isa short bar inserted between the spread'apart sides a of the hand bar, in a well known manner.

The scoop portion 0 of the shovel is made of wires. or rods bent into U-shape and passed throughthe handle at their central portions. difl'erentlengths and differently formed in bending, so that whenv assembled in conneotion with the handle in the manner shown Specification of Letters Patent.

The severalrods or wires are of PatentedAug'. 14:, 1917.

Serial no. 800,082:

in Fig. 1, the wires form the lines of a shovel and their free ends all terminate in approximatelyv a straighhtra-nsverse line. Suchfree ends are all connected with a thin stripd, CODVQDIBIltlYOf sheet steel, or other metal, which hasholes through which the ends: of the wires-are'passed, such. ends being bent sharply baclcunder the strip d, as indicated ate inFig. 7.

The endof the handle bar nearest. tothe shovel proper or scoop is: bent: backward at a and forward againatci. The part of the 'handle fromithe, first bend to the lower end is the part-which receives the wiresor rods, andwhich, in connection wlththe U+shape of said; wires;- and the differences in the' forms given to the'several wires, causes .the wires: to define a scoop 1 very similar to .that of an, ordinary, shovel,,with-, a straight entrance edge and a deep'concavity between its, sides at. the; rear. Fig. 3, Fig. 4, and Fig. 5, show the transverseshape of the scoop andillustratethe increasing concavity and depthfrom its front. edge to the back.

The wires may 'be'attached to the handle I in any desirable and convenient way. In theform shown they are passed: directly through the handle,- which is strengthened The views designated and preventedfrom splitting by a strap f which'lies on the fronta-and rear faces ofithe handle bar and passes around its end, as shown best in Figs. Qand 6. This strap is fastened by= screws. g-and a riveth. The central bent wire 0 is held by'the strap alone, being passedthrough the strap at. the I pointwhere the strap isdoubled back atithe end of the handle, instead of thronghthe wooden bar handle, as shown in-Fig. 2.

shovel madeto embody the essential principlesof thisinventionmay be varied greatly insize andproportions; The wires may be-as numerous; or as few, .andplaced as closely together or as far apart,as may be required by-the'purpose for whichany particular shovel is made.

- Amongother uses for which this shovel is adaptedm'ay be mentionedthat of'sifting ashes. The shovelrnay be'used for removing the refuse from the ash pit of afurnace,

and while being thus used, may also-serve to separatethe pieces ofzunburned fuel'or cindersfromtheash. This may: be done by slightly-shaking theshovel while still in the ashpit. The dust producedby shakingremains: in the ash'pit and is carri'edby the draft through the furnace. In this way the unburned fuel may be separated from the ash with no more difficulty than is required merely to shovel the ash from the ash pit, and without raising an objectionable dust. After the cinders have been separated from the fine ash in the manner indicated, the ash may also be removed by the same shovel, for the wires are close enough together for the fine ash to bridge the intermediate spaces, provided the shovel is not shaken. It will be readily seen that the shovel is particularly adapted for domestic use in connection with the furnaces of dwelling houses. A closely analogous use which the shovel serves is the separation of the lumps of coal from coal dust, whereby the coal may be screened during the act of shoveling the coal from a bin into the furnace.

Many other uses may be served by this shovel. For instance, the shovel may be used in garden work for separating stones and sod from the soil, for digging potatoes, and like uses. It may also be used for shoveling cracked ice when it is desired to have the icetree from water, and in general it may be said that wherever one desires to obtain solid pieces or articles separate from finer material or liquid with which they are mixed, my shovel will serve the desired purpose.

For different uses it may be desirable to have differences in form or arrangement of the scoop part with respect to the handle. For instance, in some cases the concavity of the scoop portion should be rather shallow and in other cases it is desirable to have it deep. Also some uses require that the angle between the handle and the scoop part of the shovel should be small, that is, that the scoop should extend more or less nearly in line with the handle, while other uses are better served by having the scoop portion at a more abrupt angle to the handle. The construction of the shovel already described provides a means by which a shovel having the same parts all constructed in the same way may be readily modified to serve such diverse purposes. As the wires of which the shovel scoop is made pass through the handle bar, they have a pivotal mounting in such bar and may thereby be swung more or less pivotally with respect to the handle. This fact together with the downward and backward curvature of the lower end of the handle bar enables the scoop to be given any depth desired at any angle with respect to the handle. Before the edge strip is fastened to the wires the latter are free to swing about their pivotal connections with the handle bar. In giving the final shape to any particular shovel the wires are engaged.

with the handle bar and their ends then brought against a fiat surface or any other sort of gage. By swinging the handle bar in either direction transversely to the planes of the several curved wires, the wires at their rear are more or less elevated or lowered. In this way the depth of the scoop is increased or diminished. In so moving the handle bar the ends of the wires are moved longitudinally relatively to each other. For example, in so moving the handle bar as to increase the depth of the scoop the outermost wires are moved forward at their ends with respect to the inner wires, while the latter are relatively withdrawn or moved back with respect to the outer wires. The converse is true when the handle bar is so moved as to diminish the depth of the scoop. The edge strip when secured to all of the wires prevents this relative endwise movement and thus constitutes a tying or locking means which maintains the form of the scoop. In designing the shovel the wires may in the first place be cut to predetermined designed lengths according to the form of shovel to be made, and then the handle and wires may be manipulated sub stantially as indicated until the ends of all the wires are in line. This sort of manipulation results in giving the shovel the exact predetermined form. Or the wires may be out in the first instance without regard to the shape of the finished shovel and manipulated as described until the shovel scoop has the required depth. Then the wires may all-be cut off to a straight transverse line and secured to the edge piece.

The manner of securing the wires to the edge piece which I have shown is not the only one which I propose to employ. For example, in some instances I have formed the union between the wires and edge piece by welding, by which I have secured a very satisfactory firm union with incidental stiffening of the edge piece. Any union which gives the desired security of connection between wires and edge may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I have used the terms wires and rods in describing the elements 0 of which scoop portion of the shovel is made. I do not intend these terms to be in any sense a limitation in the materials or devices used to make this part of the shovel.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

A shovel comprising a shank having a series of transverse passages through it near one end, the several passages being at clifferent distances from such end and all of said passages being straight and parallel to one another, and a series of wires bent into U form arranged with their central parts in said passages, each wire in one of the passages, and their legs approximately paral lel; the legs of each wire more distant from the end of the shank being wider apart than those of the wires nearer such end, whereby other about their pivot connections with the the wires collectively form a scoop; and all shank. 1 of the wires, including the one farthest from In testimony whereof I have aflixed my the end of the shank, being pivotally mountsignature, in presence of two witnesses.

ed in the respective passages and their ends CADVVALLADER M. RAYMOND. separate from one another, whereby the Vitnesses:

scoop may be made shallower or deeper by ARTHUR H. BROWN,

turning all the wires in one direction or the P. W. PEZZETTI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained-for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0. 

